


Purchasing a Clue

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Clueless Hotch, First Date, Fluffy, M/M, Team as (Very Nosy) Family, Valentine's Day, nosy friends, relationship beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 13:12:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13614084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Their family decides it's time to just buy them a clue...or two.





	Purchasing a Clue

“Wear this one, Dad!” Jack was holding up a black tie with a red swirl.

“This one?” Hotch took it and held it up to his suit. His son had already insisted he wear his black suit, picking out the more fitted one for him, and a deep red shirt that he’d picked up.

“Yeah, Dad. You’ll look great.”

Not seeing any reason to object, he took the tie from his son and put it on. “How do I look?”

“Great.” Jack was bouncing on his toes. “You should wear your shiny shoes too.”

“What?” He watched as Jack scrambled into the closet, returning with his formal dress shoes. “Do I have to?”

“Da-ad.”

“They’re slippery and they make my feet hurt.” He complained before stopping, realizing he sounded just like Jack. “Fine, I’ll wear them.” He sat in the chair to pull them on. “Odds are I’ll be in my office all day, so I don’t know why I need to dress up so much.”

“Cause.” He turned and left the room.

Aaron stared out the open doorway and wondered just what’d gotten into his son.

==

Making his way through the building, Hotch smoothed down the tie and tried not to notice the few people who turned and stared at him. The whole outfit, pulled together, was more formal that he usually bothered wearing at work. He was the first one of his team in, so he headed straight for his office and started on the stack of reports waiting to be signed off on. He didn’t expect to be interrupted but a short time later, Garcia was letting herself in with a bouquet of roses in her arms. “Wow, those are nice.”

She beamed at him. “Aren’t they?”

“Who are they from?”

Garcia’s grin grew. “Me. I don’t have anyone this year, so I bought myself the best bouquet I could find.”

“And you had them sent here?”

“Well, what good’s a dozen roses that look like this if I can’t make someone jealous?”

“Someone? Or Kevin?”

“Eh.” She waved off the question. “You look really nice today.”

“Jack picked it out.”

“It needs something.” Rounding his desk, she pulled out some scissors and snipped off a bloom, ignoring his protests at her disrupting the arrangement. She trimmed the stem and then tucked it into the small hole on his lapel. “There.” She stood back. “Now you look extra nice.”

“Thank you, Penelope.”

“You are most very welcome, Boss Man.”

==

The next members of his team that turned up were JJ and Prentiss, which surprised Aaron a little because normally Reid was in before them. When the women appeared in his space, Aaron tensed. Their matching smiles were a little…worrying. “Good morning.” He greeted them. “How can I help you?”

“Well.” JJ started. “I, we, have something for you.”

“A gift.” Emily added.

“Yeah.” JJ placed an envelope on his desk. “We were talking and, you do so much for all of us and you still manage to spend time with Jack.”

He stared at the envelope, not sure if he was curious or not as to what was inside. “Thank you. You two really didn’t have to.”

“We know.” Emily smiled. “Well, we have work to do.”

“Yeah.” He watched them head to their desks where Morgan was just coming in, passing out what looked like boxes of candy. He wasn’t surprised when his second in command turned up with a box for him. “Valentine’s Day?”

Morgan chuckled and shrugged. “Well, ya know, sharin’ the love.” He passed over the last box. “Last one.”

Hotch took it, thanking him without looking at the box. Once Morgan was gone, he opened the box only to realize it was all coffee flavored chocolates, not something he was a fan of. But Spencer was. He looked around, but the younger man still wasn’t in.

==

Hotch wasn’t disturbed again until Dave made an appearance when he arrived, a bottle of wine tucked in his arm. When his friend placed the bottle on the desk, he watched him sit. “What’s that for?”

“It’s a good year, good wine. You should try some.”

“Now?”

“Well, no. Not now. Take it with you and enjoy some later. Maybe in front of the fireplace or something. It’s nice and dry, would make a decent nightcap.”

Aaron eyes him. “But…why?”

“Why what?”

“Are you giving it to me?”

Dave shrugged. “Why not?”

“You’ve never bought me wine before.”

“Eh, oversight, I assure you. You can appreciate a good bottle, unlike the others.” He stood and left without another word.

==

Spencer finally escaped Garcia’s lair and slipped into his seat in the bullpen. Looking around, he wondered who else was going to accost him, not that there was anyone else to do so, not on the team anyway. Except… He looked up at the office where Hotch sat and wondered if he’d be safer there.

Rossi had caught him just as he’d gotten out of his car, presenting him with a rather nice-looking tie, it was black with small circles that graduated from deep red to light pink and then white. He had a white shirt on, so at Dave’s prodding, Spencer’d agreed to wear it, since it was Valentine’s Day and all.

By the time the pair made it to the sixth floor, Spencer had finished situating the tie and the doors had opened onto Garcia waiting for them. Or him, as it turned out. She’d drug him into her office and had trimmed the best looking rose of the bunch, securing it in his lapel. He’d stared down at it, asking her why she was making him wear it. He’d probably just get it smashed. While he as there, the other two women had appeared, giving him an envelope and making him swear not to open it just yet.

Morgan had given him a box of chocolate truffles, not something he particularly enjoyed, but a nice gesture nonetheless.

Staring at the box, Spencer got an idea. He wasn’t a fan of the truffles, but Hotch was. Standing and grabbing the box, he headed up the stairs, nudging the door shut as he entered. “Hey, Hotch.”

Aaron glanced up. “Hey.” He looked again, smiling at the rose. “I see Garcia got you.”

“Yeah. Hey, I have some chocolates here, the kind you like.”

Aaron looked at the truffles and then at the box on his desk. “I have some coffee flavored chocolates, wanna share?”

“Sure!” He lit up, taking a seat. They exchanged several chocolates before Spencer spotted the envelope on the desk. “JJ and Emily?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Did they tell you to wait to open yours too?”

“No. They didn’t. Did they tell you that?”

“Yeah.”

“Well.” Aaron picked his up. “We could just open them now.” He opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper. “It’s dinner reservations.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “For tonight.”

Spencer opened his own. “It’s show tickets, for tonight too. What time are your reservations?”

“Six thirty. The show?”

“Eight.”

“How… coordinated.”

“Huh?”

Aaron shook his head. “Garcia gave us both roses, Emily and JJ gave us dinner and a show for two, Dave gave me a bottle of expensive wine, as a nightcap he said.”

“Rossi gave me this tie.”

“And Morgan gave us chocolates, but the ones the other prefers.”

Awareness slowly crossed Spencer’s face. “This is a setup?”

“I think so.” Hotch chuckled. “I wonder if Jack knew, he insisted I dress like this today.”

“You look nice.”

“You too.” They stared at each other for several minutes. “So, Spencer…” He felt himself blush. “Would you like to do dinner and a show tonight?”

“Like… a date?”

He smiled. “Yes, like a date.”

Spencer grinned in return. “I thought you’d never ask.”


End file.
